'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies at 91

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By 6abc Archive

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - September 3, 2008
Melendez died Tuesday at St. John's Hospital, according to
publicist Amy Goldsmith.

Melendez's nearly seven decades as a professional animator began
in 1938 when he was hired by Walt Disney Studios and worked on
Mickey Mouse cartoons and classic animated features such as
"Pinocchio" and "Fantasia."

He went on to animate TV specials such as "A Charlie Brown
Christmas" and was the voice of Snoopy, who never spoke
intelligible words but issued expressive howls, sighs and sobs.

Melendez was born in 1916 in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of
Sonora. He moved with his family to Arizona in 1928 and then to Los
Angeles in the 1930s, attending the Chouinard Art Institute.

Melendez took part in a strike that led to the unionization of
Disney artists in 1941, and later moved to Warner Bros., where he
worked on Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck shorts.

In 1948, Melendez left Warner Bros. and over the next 15 years
worked as a director and producer on more than 1,000 commercials
and movies for United Productions of America, Playhouse Pictures
and John Sutherland Productions.

At UPA, he helped animate "Gerald McBoing-Boing," which won
the 1951 Academy Award for best cartoon short.

The two became friends and Melendez became the only person
Schulz authorized to animate his characters.

Melendez founded his own production company in 1964 and with his
partner Lee Mendelson went on to produce, direct or animate some 70
"Peanuts" TV specials, four movies and hundreds of commercials.

The first special was 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The
show reportedly worried CBS because it broke so much new ground for
a cartoon: It lacked a laugh track, used real children as voice
actors, had a jazz score and included a scene in which Linus
recited lines from the New Testament.

However, the show was a ratings success and has gone on to
become a Christmastime perennial.

Melendez created Emmy-winning specials based on the cartoon
characters Cathy and Garfield, and was involved in animated
versions of the Babar the elephant books and the C.S. Lewis book,
"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

He also was co-nominee for an Academy Award in 1971 for the
music for "A Boy Named Charlie Brown."

In all, his productions earned some 19 Emmy nominations,
including six awards.